Travel spontaneously, plan less.

Do you ‘overplan’ and stress over every possible eventuality? Do you ever feel restricted by your plans? It’s time to travel spontaneously!

 

We travel and go into the unknown, and it is exciting. But it is also scary. A kneejerk reaction is to thoroughly plan and research all possibilities.

 

This can affect overall experience. For me, there was nothing more exciting than arriving in a city, and forming my opinions with no previous knowledge or expectations, and having freedom to stumble upon ‘must-see’ sites without searching for them (or knowing they existed!). In Turkey, my plan changed overnight after talking to locals; I cycled the south-west coast instead of heading along the north. Similarly my plans changed after receiving an email from a farm in Austria; the next day I began two weeks working there. When I left England, my already-minimalistic plan took me through 11 countries across Europe. I only actually went through 5 of these, meaning I went into 7 countries I had never contemplated entering. In short, I often lived on a day to day basis, working out where to go, stay, and eat when a decision required it.

Sleeping in strange places when travelling.
It was spontaneous travelling that led me to sleep on a petrol station roof!

Of course, I’m not advocating no planning. We often have time restraints and must book flights and so on. Also obviously important is ensuring safety insofar as possible (don’t stress too much about all possible, yet unlikely scenarios though).

 

But, what I am saying is travel spontaneously and take the resulting opportunities that arise, whether you are cycling around the world, or just on a family holiday. Ditch the guidebooks, and spend a day getting lost. You may just be surprised with what can happen..

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